1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developer container and an image forming apparatus that incorporates the developer container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as printers, facsimile machines, and copying machines use electrophotographic technology. A charging roller charges the circumferential surface of a photoconductive drum uniformly. An exposing unit illuminates the charged surface of the photoconductive drum in accordance with print data to form an electrostatic latent image. A developing roller supplies a developer material to the electrostatic latent image, thereby developing the electrostatic latent image into a developer image. The developer image is then transferred onto a print medium such as paper. A fixing unit fixes the developer image on the print medium into a permanent image. A developer container such as a toner cartridge holds a developer material therein and is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus.
A developer container generally includes a housing and a shutter that slidablly fits into the housing. The housing has a developer discharging opening formed therein and the shutter has another developer discharging opening formed therein. When the shutter slides to a position where the opening of the shutter is in alignment with the opening of the housing, the developer is discharged from the developer container into a developing unit of the image forming apparatus.
However, a conventional developer container suffers from a drawback in that a developer material adhering to an inner wall surface of the container may not be used efficiently.